Lea Michele & Chris Colfer Not Returning for 'Glee' Season 4

“[They are] not going to be back at all for Season 4,” Ryan told THR. “You can keep them on the show for six years and people will criticize you for not being realistic, or you can be really true to life and say when they started the show they were very clearly sophomores and they should graduate at the end of their senior year.”

While Ryan has previously mentioned that cast members would be graduating at the end of next season, these are the first cast members officially not returning.